HCM City to open bids for waste treatment plant

HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City
has invited local and foreign companies to bid on a waste treatment plants that
is expected to reduce pollution and contribute to a greener and more beautiful
urban area.

The city discharges 8,000 tonnes to 8,500 tonnes
of household waste per day, not including industrial and construction solid
waste, according to the municipal Department of Natural Resources and
Environment.

For the long term, waste incineration technology
is the best waste treatment method as it adds a source of electric power and
reduces pollution.

The city’s Department of Natural Resources and
Environment, in announcing the basic criteria for bidders of the city’s waste
treatment project, said the plant that would be able to treat 1,000 tonnes of
unsorted waste per day, with treatment cost of under 21 USD per tonne.

Bidders are required to submit documents on
machinery and equipment, and to ensure that the plant will operate normally
during maintenance, repairs or technical incidents.

The city will give priority to bidders with
experience in operation of waste-to-energy plants that treat more than 1,000
tonnes of waste per day.

Most local companies do not meet the
requirements set by the city, such as capital investment, machinery and
equipment, and waste treatment costs for a tonne of waste.

A number of local bidders said they could not
meet the criteria set by the city authority.

Huynh Minh Nhut, CEO of the HCM City Urban
Environment Company Ltd, said the city had set high standards that some
bidders could not reach.

Nhut said that only foreign companies and a
number of foreign-invested firms could meet the criteria.

However, the HCM City Urban Environment
Company Ltd plans to attend the bidding.

Representatives of a number of bidders said that
the price of 17 USD to 21 USD for a tonne of unsorted waste was too low, and
could pose problems to investors or developers of the project.

Nguyen Thi Thanh My, Deputy Director of the municipal
Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said that the
“high-standard criteria” set by the city agencies would prompt others to reform
their businesses.

The Southern Focal Economic Zone and HCM City,
for example, have developed their industrial, trade and service sectors very
well in recent years, offering many new jobs and contributing to improved
living standards, My said.

My said the open bidding for the plant was
necessary to attract professional companies with experience and financial
capability.

Still, the city’s agencies should create
favourable conditions for local enterprises to join the bidding process to help
them build competitiveness, she added.

The volume of industrial solid waste, hazardous
waste and household waste is on the rise, but thermal waste treatment methods
have posed challenges.

Waste-to-energy technology is one of the best
measures for treatment of industrial waste, hazardous waste, healthcare waste
and parts of biological waste, experts have said.-VNS/VNA